The Prague Manifesto

Abstract

The Manifesto of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia . Fellow-countrymen! Brothers and Sisters! In this hour of great trial we must decide the fate of our Motherland, our peoples and ourselves. Mankind is living through an era of the greatest upheavals. The present world war is a fight to the finish between opposing political systems. It is being fought by the powers of imperialism, led by the plutocrats of England and the USA, whose greatness is built on the oppression and exploitation of other countries and peoples. It is being fought by the powers of internationalism led by Stalin's clique, who dream of world revolution and the destruction of the national independence of other countries and their peoples. It is being fought by freedom-loving nations, who yearn to live their own way of life, determined by their own historical and national development. There is no greater crime than the one which Stalin commits, of destroying the countries and oppressing the peoples who strive to preserve the land of their forebears and build their happiness by their own labour. There is no greater crime than to subjugate another people and force one's own will upon it. The forces of destruction and slavery camouflage their criminal aims with slogans such as the defence of freedom, democracy, culture and civilisation. By the defence of freedom they mean the conquest of other lands. By the defence of democracy they mean forcing their political system upon other states.